AP Psych Rapid Review Unit 14 Social Psychology 8%-10%

Attributing Behavior to Persons or to Situations  Attribution theory Attribution theory  Why people behave the way they do  We credit a person’s behavior with either their traits (disposition) OR  the situation (environment)  Dispositional vs. situational attribution

 Fundamental attribution error  tendency for observers, when analyzing another’s behavior, to underestimate the impact of the situation and to overestimate the impact of personality traits  Self-serving bias  We attribute our own success to traits we have (dispositional) and our failures to situational factors Actor-Observer Bias: attribute oue own behavior to situation & behavior of others to personal causes

…all of this can lead to…  Just-World Phenomenon:  People get what they deserve  Illusion of control

Attitudes  Cognitive Dissonance  Causes individuals to change attitudes  Relief from tension  a.) discrepancy between 2 thoughts or thoughts & action that b.) causes us tensions Ex. Smoking Leon Festinger

 Self-fulfilling prophecies  Tendency to let our preconceived expectations of others influence how we treat them, bringing about the very behavior we expected.  Rosenthal Study…teacher expectations

In-Group / Out-Group  Favor “us”  Prejudice: unjustified negative attitude  Discrimination: unjustified behavior  Bothe arise from stereotypes: mental schemas society attributes to different groups  Scapegoat theory: prejudice offers an outlet for anger by blaming the victim Frustration-Aggression Principle

3 ingredients to liking someone:  Proximity  Mere exposure effect Mere exposure effect  Physical attractiveness  Similarity intimacy passion commitment

 Social Facilitation Social Facilitation  stronger responses in presence of others Yerkes-Dodson Law

 Social Loafing Social Loafing  exert less effort when common goal  Deindividuation Deindividuation  the loss of self-awareness and self- restraint occurring in group situations that foster arousal and anonymity.

Group PolarizationGroup Polarization –the enhancement of a group’s prevailing inclinations through discussion with the groups

 Groupthink Groupthink  desire for harmony in a decision-making group overrides a realistic alternatives  Superordinate Goals  Muzafer Sherif  Conflicting groups get along when have a common task

Conformity Adjusting behavior\thinking toward group standard Solomon Asch study Conditions That Strengthen Conformity One is made to feel incompetent Group has at least three people Group is unanimous One admires the group’s status One has made no prior commitment Others in group observe one’s behavior One’s culture strongly encourages respect for social standards Stanford Prison Study (Philip Zimbardo)

Normative social influence  desire to gain approval or avoid disapproval. (to be seen as normal) Informational social influence  willingness to accept other’s opinions about reality Reasons for Conforming :

Stanley Milgram Obedience Study  Complying with a demand  “Teacher”: confederate  “Learner”: subject; didn’t know the “teacher” was a confederate  Least likely to obey when:  Someone else speaks up  Authority figure not close  Not associated w/ prestigious univ. If victim is depersonalized…see higher obedience 66% obeyed

Persuasion Central Route Persuasion  persuaded by factual information  consider the “heart” of the matter  more durable & more likely to influence behavior Peripheral Route Persuasion  indirect  does NOT give factual info  swayed by celebrity endorsements  superficial The Foot-in-the-Door Phenomenon Tendency to comply with a large request if we already complied with a smaller request

Altruism  Kitty Genovese  Darley & Latane  Bystander effect  Tendency for bystander to be less likely to help if others are present  Diffusion of Responsibility  Feel less personal responsibility as the group gets larger  “Seizure Experiment”  Confederates faked seizure  (IV) of the study was the number of persons (bystanders)  (DV) was the time it took for the participant to react

 GRIT –  Graduated and Reciprocated Initiatives in Tension-Reduction.  Strategy for reduction of international tensions through win-win attitudes and communication.  Reciprocity norm Reciprocity norm  we should return help to those who have helped us  Social-responsibility norm Social-responsibility norm  we help those who need our help Why do we leave tips for people we will never see again & give directions to strangers?